Westminster police spokesman Trevor Materasso said the body found Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 10, is not intact, which is slowing positive identification.

The family of Jessica Ridgeway was notified that the police department would reveal that the body found near Pattridge Park Open Space in Arvada was dismembered, Materasso said Thursday afternoon.

Police do not expect to confirm the identity of the body until at least Friday.

"At this point, we don't have additional information we can provide," Materasso said at briefing at about 12:15 p.m.

Thursday afternoon, police were guarding the front door of the home where Jessica was seen heading for school Friday morning.

An Arvada police officer watches over the crime scene early in the morning, Thursday, Oct. 11, on Leyden Road in west Arvada.
(RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post))

Thursday that canvassing in Westminster neighborhoods near where Jessica disappeared will continue, as will searches in other open space areas.

RTD buses that appeared to be carrying additional investigators arrived early Thursday at Westminster police headquarters. Other buses continued to bring teams of law enforcement throughout the morning. There are 35 agencies participating in the investigation Thursday.

Parts of some roads will remain closed Thursday as investigators work the crime scene where the body was found in Arvada near the Pattridge Park Open Space. Arvada police said that includes West 82nd Avenue between Colorado 93 and Indiana Street.

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Federal and police investigators swarmed a grassy area north of West 82nd Avenue and east of the BFI landfill on Wednesday. They were aided by lights and were using a firetruck's extended ladder to get a better view. Their work was focused near a building that appears to be a remnant of an old mining operation.

Jessica was last seen at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 5 as she left her home on Moore Street in Westminster. She was to meet with classmates at nearby Chelsea Park to walk to Witt Elementary, but she never arrived at school that morning. Her mother, Sarah Ridgeway, a night-shift worker, slept during the day and awoke to find a message that her daughter never made it to school and reported her missing around 4:30 p.m. Oct. 5.

On Sunday, Oct. 7, Jessica's backpack was found in Superior. Police have said it is being analyzed for DNA evidence.

Investigators have ruled out Jessica's parents as possible suspects in the 10-year-old's disappearance, focusing on an unknown suspect who is believed to have abducted her.

On Thursday the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that the case of a child abduction in Cody, Wyo., is not related to Jessica's disappearance. In the Cody case, an 11-year-old girl and a friend were approached Oct. 8 by a man in a white sports utility vehicle who asked for help finding his lost puppy. When the 11-year-old approached the vehicle, the man showed a pistol and told her to get into the front passenger seat.

The girl was released, but the perpetrator is still at large. The FBI said investigators do not believe the Colorado and Wyoming cases are related.

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